Extensible driving-shaft for automobiles.



T. F. BARSBY. EXTENSlBLEDRIVING SHAFT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLlCATlON ElLED AUG.15. I916.

Patented Aug. 27, l918.

A TTORNEY outrun srnrnsrn'rnnr orruin 'r'nonrns rnnnnIoK BARSBY, or snnrrilnurnsnmerhiv," Assisiron, Y MESNE ASSIGIT- mnurs, "r UNIVERSITYGARAGEGOMPAHY, or snnrrnnflwnsnmeron, A conno- BATION.

' nxrnnsinnn nmvmdsiinrrfrom Auronronrnns Specification of Iletters Patent. F ii Aug, 27,

llumination f led August 15, 1916. Serial 256.;15084. i

To all whom it may concern} Be it known that I, THOMAS FREDRIQK Bnnsnr, citizen of the United States, residmg at Seattle, in the county of King and State of Washington, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Extensible Driving-Shafts for Automobiles, of which the following is a. specification.

invention relates to improvements in extensible driving shafts for automobiles, and the object of myinvention is to provide a driving shaft Whichshall include an extensible section in association with a universaljoint, and which shall be adapted-to Connect the engine of an automobile with thedifi'erentiafl gearing of the rearward axle of said eutomobile.

And, a further object of my invention is to provide a:"extensible driving sheftthet shall be particularly adaptedto facilitate the operation of converting a passenger automo bile into ,aneutomobile truck by making 'changes whi ch .include an addition to the";

fth

e chassis ot said passengrn'v aut0--.

ithese objects by devices illusaccoinpanymg draw ngs whereci a ted parts of an automobile truck that sbeenficonverted irom a passenger automobiihf which partsembody my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of'pert's of the same, in vertical cross-section on broken line 2, 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3' is an enlarged View of other parts of the same in verticel'nuchsection on broken line 3, 3 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 s an. enlarged view of parts of the shine in vertical cross-section on broken line i, 450i l weferring to the drawings, throughout which like reference numerals indicate like parts, 5 and odesignatethe original opposite side rails of the chassis of a common type of passenger automobile that is now converted into an automobile truck by fastento said side rails 5 and 5 the longer side 6 and 6, to give greater length to the chassis of said automobile truck, and by -making other changes not shown.

" The numeral 7 designutes the transmission mechanism associated with the rearward portion ofi' an engine, not shown, u1d 9 desigl stlihousmg which contams the ditciated with the rearward *a xle not shown) therein to adopt it to he slidinglyjjinohd '11 being disposedv directly oppo te of a. cross-bar 13, made-bf iron or steel to have the form shown in Fig. '3, a.

figured is e planview ,representing {Iunested as indicated in Fig. 1..

ferential gearing (notshown) that isfv isso of the automobile truck. v i

The siderails 5 and 5 are madeof thanneled'iron bars; and are'disposed with their channeled-sides facing each other, and :Wltllin the channel ofeaehofsaid'siderails 5 and 5 is a block, esblocks 10 and 11 whiehffits backward and forward, saidblocks -1 other. m s it i i 1 Fnstened to the opposite faces o blocks. 10 and 11 by means of angular brackets 12 ere the opposite end portio tending through the central portiongot cross-bar 13 is a. large circular hole through which extends forwardly the fixed ha'ltjl of 'a hollow spherioa l housii'lg, Whiclijfixed "half 14 is provided with" a. flange l5-the' t' is fastened to the rearwardside of said rossbar 13.

- The movable half 1610:? said spine, U a housing is of a smfiller diameter endis lifi" posed with a portion of it within the half 1% toprojectreerwardly there-fr oni to- I connect its flanged open end 1'? with then. flanged end 18 of etubular shaft housing I 19; and said movable half 16 is maintained inits articulated position by aoollar 20 that is provided with a flange 21 which is bolted. to the flange 15 and cross-bar 13, as shown more clearly in 3f Thus, the movable half 16, to which, the shaft housing 19 is connected, permits said shaft housing 19 swingingly to rise and fall in response to like movementsv of the di ftere; ential gear housing with which it isf'oon- Connected to the differential gearing Within the housing 9 is one end portion of a section 22 of the-driving shaft Whose other end portion is connected to one end 23 of a universal joint, of well known form, that is within the spherical housing formed by the fixed half 14 and the movable half 16, the other end 2st of which is of square crosssection and slidably projects into esquare ho 25 that is formed in the rearward end portion of another section 26 of said driving shaft which slidebly projects into the for ward opening of the fixed half 14 of the spherical housing, as shown more clearly ,in Fi 3. Y i

lhe forward end portion of said section 26 of said driving. shaft is also provided with a hole 27, of square cross-section, w1t h1n the innermost portion of which is a helical compression spring 28, and within the outer end portion of which is slidably disposed a square rod 30 which pro ects outwardly therefrom, and said forward end portion of said section 26 is disposed to project through a cover 29, wheresaid square rod 30 slidably projects into a squarehol'formed in a rotatable part of the transmission mechanism 7, as shown in Fig. 3.

Thus, any longitudinal movement of the section 22 of'the driving shaft and its shaft q housing 19, due to traveling over uneven" roads, may move the cross-bar 13 "forward and backward, thereby varying thedistance between said cross-bar l3'and the square rod 30 of thetransmission mechanism 7, without cramping, or interfering with the rotation of the'driving shaft, since the opposite end portions of is section 26 may slidingly move on the squared end 24 of the universal joint and on the square rod 30, the spring 28 serving to keep said section 26 in its rearwardmost position to prevent said section 26 from making a rattling noise during the operation of the automobile truck.

Obviously, the length of the section 26 of I the driving shaft may bei changed to suit universal joint to one end of which is rigidly connected one end of/one of said sections, and to the other end of which universal joint is slidably connected one end portion of the other one of said sections, thereby to be independently movable in endwise directions with respectto said universal joint; a housing within which said universal joint is disposed, said housing comprising a -rigidly supportcdportion to which is articulated a -movableportion thereof; a tubular shaft housing connected to said movable of the said housing that contalns sa1dfun'1 versal joint, and within which shaft housing is disposed one of said sections; and means adapted to make a resiliently and slidablei connection between said independentlyjmovr able section and the transmission mechanism of said automobile.

2. he combination with the transmission and differential mechanism of a motor vehicle, of a two-part shaft including a universal joint at their adjacent ends, one of the shaft sections being movable in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis thereof and one end of-the longitudinally movable'shaft having a slidable engagement with the universal joint while the other end thereof has resilienten agement with the transmission shaft.

3. The combination with the transmission and differential mechanism of a motor vehicle, of a two-part shaft including a universal versa-l joint at their adjacent ends, means for supporting the universal joint in a manner of relative to the vehicle chassis and one of the shaft sections having a cushioned sliding engagement with the dri ving'niechanism.

5. An extensible drivin shaft for automobiles including two sections having a univer'sal joint at their adj acent ends, means for supporting the universal joint in a manner to permit free longitudinal movement there of relative to the V8i'l-lQlB,Cl1aSSlS one ef the shaft sections havin neushioned sliding enagement with the riv'iilg mechanismh-nd a reely extensible connh tion with the universal joint.

In witness whereof, I, hereunto subscribe in i name this 7th day of August, A. D.,

THOMAS FREDRICK BARSBY. Witnesses:

" FRANK WARREN, 1

O. JOHNSON.

'to permit free longitudinal movement there- 

